Digimon: Digi-Crusade
by TheDarkFlameMaster
Summary: The digital world is in danger once again! A new threat in the form of BlackApollomon has taken over the digital world, turning it into a place of pain and suffering. It's up to Nathaniel Link, Lapinmon, and all the other Digidestined to stop him before his evil spreads from the Digital World into the real world! Accepting OCs, read story then message for details.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Welcome to the Digital World!**

"Here, I'm going to be giving you your tests back," Mr. Seele announced from the front of the classroom. There were cheers from most of the seventh grade students, though one boy really couldn't give much of a crap altogether. He sat at his desk with his head down, but he wasn't asleep.

He was furiously tapping away at the hand held DP in his hands, though he didn't need to. The DP was a Digital Pet that was all the rage for kids nowadays. It gave you the chance to raise your own pet. You could decide how it looked, what its personality was, even how long it took to grow up. You could even get them to battle other Tamers, the people who raised the DPs. It was all in all a pretty awesome game.

The boy's DP's name was Lapinmon. He didn't quite understand his own obsession with rabbits, but this one wasn't cute and cuddly. With bright gold eyes and white fur with black strips, it looked pretty bad ass, even if it was short. The rabbit stood on its hind legs, stretching itself up to make itself look taller. Lapinmon had a pair of white pants that looked like they should have been part of a karate gi. On its paws were two oversized black boxing gloves and its ears flopped down its sides, almost dragging on the floor. Its feet were massive, like any rabbit's should have been, and were almost as long as its legs.

Right now, he was feeding Lapinmon its favourite food. Carrots. Go figure. Hooray for stereotypes.

"Nathaniel Link." Seele said from above him, managing to grab the boy's attention. He looked up at him with hazel eyes, his black hair hanging over them in a shaggy mess. His hat and goggles sat on the desk mere inches from him.

"What is it?" He asked, not bothering to even hide his DP. That just made Seele even angrier, wrinkled skin curling around blazing brown eyes.

"I have told you not to play with that game during my class."

"I have to check on Lapinmon every couple hours or it'll get sick." Nathaniel, or Nate as he preferred to be called, told him. Seele responded by slapping down a test paper in front of him. Nate barely paid it any attention, though he did see a large, intimidating red F on it. Oh well.

"Maybe if you weren't playing with imaginary pets all the time, you would do well in this class."

"It's history, sir. No one really cares about history," Nate sighed as he turned his attention back to Lapinmon. The small rabbit was jumping up and down on the screen with its arms flailing, the words CHALLENGE ISSUED flashing above its head. _Awesome, _Nate thought to himself. There was nothing that he loved more than fighting in a challenge and he knew Lapinmon enjoyed it too.

"PUT IT AWAY!" Seele roared, a vein bulging so far out on his forehead it looked like it was about to pop. Everyone in the classroom giggled at how silly he looked. Nate drove all the teachers crazy, its why they liked class so much. He made it entertaining.

"Fine," Nate mumbled before switching the DP device into sleep mode. He placed it in his backpack along with his test before zipping it closed. Seele nodded in victory and went back to handing the tests out. It wasn't that big of a deal. Nate would just battle them after school.

The final bell couldn't come quick enough. Nate bounded out the door and passed the gates, whipping the red DP out of his bag. He flipped open the top screen a quick as he could without breaking it, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw the challenge was still open. _This guy must really want to fight._

Nate made his way to the closest park, plopping down onto the nearest bench. Everyone from school came here so it wasn't like adults would find it weird that a random kid was just playing a video game by himself.  
_  
_With a few clicks of buttons the battle screen had been opened, showing a very well animated Lapinmon bouncing up and down Street Fighter style. On the other side of the screen was a DP that looked like some sort of beige lizard with firey spikes all along its back. It moved from standing on its hind legs to all fours with each animation, the word Sungazermon appearing above its head. A long tongue made completely of flames slipped out of its mouth over and over as the word FIGHT appeared between the two DPs health bars.

Sungazermon shot forward like a dart towards Lapinmon, the lizard lashing out quickly with its tail, a trail of fire following it. Lapinmon jumped backwards, just narrowly dodging the attack before returning with one of its own. It hit Sungazermon with a barrage of punches, a six hit combo before finishing with an uppercut, knocking the lizard a few feet away.

Sungazermon was up quickly enough, its front legs spinning wildly as it dove underneath the ground. A few seconds later it popped up underneath Lapinmon, its head slamming right into the bunny's stomach. Lapinmon was thrown in the air and the lizard followed, smacking it back to the ground with the flaming tail attack it had used earlier.

As Sungazermon began to land, Lapinmon attacked while it was vulnerable. Lapinmon's fist erupted into a bright light and it drove a hard jab into Sungazermon's jaw. The reptile shot across the screen and hit the ground, a circle of stars appearing over its head. Stunned!

"This is our shot!" Nate grinned as he pressed a few buttons quickly. Time for Lapinmon's signature move.

Lapinmon leaped into the air before crashing down onto Sungazermon's back like a meteor. It followed up the overwhelming blow with a punch to the side and a kick to the head with its massive foot. "Yes! How'd you like that Bunny Blitz, jerk?!" Nate cheered, fist pumping. Sungazermon's health bar hadn't dropped to zero yet though, it was still sitting at just a little above.

Nate was too busy celebrating to realize that Lapinmon was in trouble. Sungazermon curled up into a ball and began to spin, a thick coating of flames covering its entire body. It slammed into Lapinmon full force, grinding against the poor rabbit as it dragged it across the screen. Nate's eyes widened when he saw what was happening, pushing buttons like a madman.

"No, no, no!" He shouted, shaking his DP now, trying to change the inevitable outcome. Sungazermon jumped away from the now barbequed bunny, the word WINNER flashing in bright red letters over its head. Nate had lost. Lapinmon had been beaten.

"Come on! I was winning that, how did I lose?!" Nate groaned, flopping onto his back. So close.

After leaving the battle screen, Lapinmon stood in front of him, its ears flopped over, a depressed look on the DP's face. A speech bubble popped up saying, "Sorry boss."

Nate couldn't help but smile, quickly hitting the option to reward Lapinmon. A small hand appeared over its head, rubbing it between the ears affectionately. Lapinmon instantly perked up and went back to hopping around like a maniac. A small envelope popped up in the corner, catching both the DP's and Nate's attention.

"You got mail, boss!" Lapinmon told him, jumping up into the corner to grab the envelope and opened it. The message was just a series of Binary code so to Nate it just looked like gibberish. In the address bar, it only said one thing.

MERLMON.

Before Nate could even react his DP screen exploded into a massive light. The light covered his entire body and the DP suddenly felt very, very hot. He tried to pull away but it was like his fingers were glued to the buttons. Panic rose in his chest as a searing pain appeared in his legs. He was tempted not to look, but he did anyway.

His legs were turning into 1s and 0s. They floated into the screen of the DP, vanishing and leaving the rest of his body behind. He could feel that they weren't there. His legs just weren't there anymore.

He wanted to scream, but he had no voice. The rest of his body was following his legs' example, turning into code and vanishing into the DP's screen. Over half his body was gone. Three quarters. Soon enough he was just a head. Then there was nothing but the code. A never ending code streaming passed him. He couldn't see his own body. He didn't feel his own body.

He was part of the code. He was digital.

Then he was falling. A massive world opened up beneath him, code flowing into it to build the environment he was heading towards. A forest with trees made of all different colours waited for him below, ranging from green to gold. A mountain range was to the east, the tips of them stretching into the clouds and beyond. An enormous city was being formed in the south, skyscrapers galore. A spectacular ocean was just waiting for him in the west, numerous rainbows shimmering above the water. The north was an ice range that stretched as far as he could see. He almost thought he could see some sort of tower hidden behind the fog that rose from the ice.

It was beautiful. Everything about this world was breathtaking. Nate felt as if he wanted to stay in this position forever, just floating over this massive world, absorbing its wonder.

Except he wasn't floating. He was falling. He had been distracted by the world around him and was now realizing exactly what was going on. He was racing towards the ground, the wind cutting into him so fast he had to pull his goggles down to keep tears from spilling out of his eyes. He began to flip as he screamed, losing all control of himself.

The ground drew closer and closer. Nate had no way of stopping himself from crashing head-first into the ground below him. He was screaming for somebody, anybody to help him when he felt a blast of heat from his wrist.

On his right wrist was a red watch. He hadn't been wearing it before he had been.. Digitalized. On the watch was a set of numbers that Nate only assumed meant the time. The actual watch itself was glowing a bright ruby colour. The light enveloped Nate, cutting off the feeling of the wind around him. Instead of falling, the light was guiding him towards the ground slowly and carefully.

After almost thirty seconds Nate landed flat on his feet in the middle of the forest. Now he could tell that the forest wasn't a forest, but a jungle. It was hot and humid. His clothes were already starting to stick to his body.

"Where the heck am I?"

"The Digital World!" A voice cried out from behind him so suddenly that he jumped almost three feet in the air. He turned and got in a pathetic excuse for a fighting stance, the crane style from The Karate Kid. If it wasn't obvious that he was a martial arts enthusiast yet, there was no denying it now. Then he froze in place. Froze is a relative term though, considering he was wobbling every which way.

Standing in front of him, exactly how he designed him to be, was Lapinmon. Bright gold eyes with white fur, black stripes down his back. His ears flopped down to his sides. The massive feet. The boxing gloves. The karate pants. The rabbit cocked its head to the side at the ridiculous way Nate looked. "Um.. What're you doing?"

"Um.. Nothing." Nate was embarrassed now, lowering his arms and leg slowly. Lapinmon raised a fuzzy eyebrow at him before stifling a giggle.

"You looked so goofy!"

"Shut up!" Nate snapped, his cheeks turning a rosey red.

"Sorry, sorry.. Anyways, welcome to the Digital World! Or, one version of it I suppose. Ta-da!" Lapinmon grinned, waving his hands excitedly. Nate looked at the world around him, quickly slapping at a mosquito that came too close to his neck. "Yeah.. This part isn't so great. The rest of it is really awesome though!"

"I'm sure." Nate frowned, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Lapinmon stuck his tongue out at Nate before something caught his eye. A set of five lights in the sky, just like the one that had carried Nate down to the earth. Blue, yellow, silver, white, and purple.

"Sweet! The other Digidestined are here!"

"The other what now?"

"No time to explain! Lets go!" Lapinmon shouted, grabbing Nate by the wrist and yanking him towards the nearest falling light, the silver one.

* * *

_A/N: Okay, so here's my first chapter. As Lapinmon says, ta-da! So, obviously I don't own digimon, but I do own Nate, Lapinmon and all the other original characters I'm going to be introducing! I do need two more characters though. The white digidestined and the blue digidestined. You can create your own digimon for it too, just message me for the OC creation form!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Digidestined unite!**

* * *

"Come on, it's right through here!" Lapinmon called out, dragging Nate through a seemingly endless jungle. The poor boy was constantly tripping over roots and ducking beneath branches. At one point he even swallowed a few bugs. Lapinmon had to wait for him as he hacked them back up.

"Can we.. Take a... Break?" Nate panted, leaning against a tree with one hand. Lapinmon was bouncing up and down, obviously excited about what was going on. He didn't want to wait any longer than he had to.

"No! Come on!" And the boxing bunny vanished into the bushes, leaving Nate all alone. He stood there for all of five seconds, looking around nervously before darting after his partner.

Nate found him standing in the middle of a large field, tiny arms raised in defense at the creature in front him. It almost looked like a boy who had been trying on his father's clothes, if that boy had massive blue feet with large nails. It was wearing a kendo outfit, a pair of bright yellow eyes hidden behind the mask. It held a wooden sword up to Lapinmon.

"Lapinmon. What did you do?" Nate asked, raising an eyebrow at the situation. Lapinmon shot him a scowl before turning his attention back to the thing in front of him.

"I didn't do anything! There was a boy sitting here and then, as soon as I got close, this Kotemon popped out of nowhere! I don't know what his problem is!" He shouted. The creature in front of him, Kotemon, narrowed his eyes slowly.

"Leave my partner alone," he said. Nate managed to get a glimpse of a boy on the other side of the clearing before he hid behind one of the trees. The boy had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. His skin was pale, like he had never really seen the light of day. He seemed so fragile that he would break if you even breathed on him. He looked to be about nine or ten years old. Oh, and he looked absolutely terrified.

"Hold up, Kotemon. We need to sort something out. My guy here, this great big goof, is a Digidestined, just like that kid over there. See? They even have the same digivices!" Lapinmon told him, gesturing to Nate's wrist with a quick flick of his head. Kotemon turned his attention to Nate, looking him over for a moment before lowering his sword.

"Alright. Simon, you can come out." Kotemon called out and the boy Nate had seen moments before wandered towards them. He and Kotemon looked like two peas in a pod. His shirt was far too big for him, the sleeves hanging over his hands by almost four inches. He was short too, but that was probably due to his age more than anything else.

"Hey Simon. I'm Nate, this is Lapinmon," Nate told him, walking over and holding out his hand in a friendly manner. Simon took a cautious step backward before taking his hand as best he could from beneath the massive sleeve. It drooped down his arm just enough to show the silver version of the watch Nate was wearing firmly attached to his wrist.

"Nice to meet you.." He whispered before lowering his head. Kotemon, obviously not comfortable with the situation. "So it's starting, huh?"

"Yep!" Lapinmon grinned, bouncing over and taking his place at Nate's side. "We're finally gonna be free of that digi-tyrant!"

Nate and Simon both shared a look at this before asking the same question. "What digityrant?"

"It'd be easier to explain to everyone all at once instead of individually. We gotta wait till we find the others, kay?" Lapinmon said, wrapping an arm around Kotemon's shoulder. "We're all in this together so we should j- WHOA!" Before he could know what was happening, Kotemon had flipped the little bunny onto his back with his free hand. "Ow.."

"Don't touch me." Kotemon said, a fair amount of finality in his voice. Nate had learned long ago that, when someone talked like this, you tried your best not to piss them off. It would end in nothing but pain, as Lapinmon had just experienced.

Nate was about to split the two of them up when there was a rustling in the bushes from nearby. The two creatures instantly tensed up and, instead of holding him down, Kotemon pulled Lapinmon up to his feet. They both took their fighting stances, Lapinmon with his fists raised and Kotemon with both hands on his sword.

Nate chewed on his lip as he watched the bushes and he almost jumped out of his skin when he felt something brush up against his leg. One quick look told him that it was Simon hiding behind him, visibly shaking. He wasn't strong enough for this sort of thing.

Two girls walked out from the bushes, chatting as if they were old friends. One had another sort of rabbit clinging to the back of her head while sitting on her shoulders, though this one looked much different from Lapinmon though. They were four ears on its head for one thing instead of two and its eyes were much less intimidating to look at. Beneath the antenna on its forehead was a crescent moon opening upwards.

The girl the rabbit was holding onto seemed to be about Nate's age. She had straight, shoulder length black hair, a bright pink ribbon attached at the back. Her skin was pale and her eyes a deep green, one that definitely caught Nate's attention. They reminded him of his mother's eyes, almost. She wore a pink t-shirt that came down to just above her belly button, a bright star placed on her chest. She brushed some dirt off her black, denim skirt. A pair of black tight socks stretched up her legs, while her feet were covered by short high heel boots. On her right wrist, the same place that the boys had theirs, was a white watch.

The girl next to her had some sort of lizard walking next to her, one that Nate instantly recognized to be Sungazermon, the very DP that beat Lapinmon earlier that day. It was much larger than he had been expecting, almost four feet long. It carried itself with an air of pride that instantly got on Lapinmon's nerves, his eyes narrowing at the lizard.

The girl walking next to it was a year older than Nate, maybe two. She had chocolate brown eyes, tanned skin with curly brown hair that framed her face perfectly. She carried herself the same way that her pet did, full of confidence with one hand on her hip, her jean jacket hugging her body in all the right ways. The top button was opened so that those looking could see the beginnings of her cleavage. She also wore a pair of black skinny jeans and red converse. She wore two skull rings on each hand, one on her middle fingers and the other on her middle. On her wrist was a yellow watch to match the others.

"Hey!" The black haired girl called out to them, waving with a great big smile on her face. The rabbit hanging on to her head seemed to shield itself in her hair, waving as well, albeit much more nervously. She jogged towards them, the girl next to her rolling her eyes before following.

"State your name," Kotemon ordered, not lowering his wooden sword. The dark haired girl blinked with surprise, taking a step back nervously.

"Sabrina.. The cutie on my head is Lunamon. She's super sweet. That's Willow over there and her friend Sungazermon, though he kinda scares me.." She said, gesturing to each one when she introduced them. Willow gave a disinterested nod before turning to her lizard, entering into a private conversation with him.

"We've almost got the whole group! Just two more to go" Lapinmon shouted, bouncing around happily. At least someone was happy with the way things were going. The kids on the other hand were totally lost. Lunamon watched Lapinmon jumping around, giggling ever so slightly at him. Kotemon just watched him with what Nate could only guess to be a bewildered look. Sungazermon was ignoring him entirely.

"So whose partner is he?" Sabrina asked, looking back and forth between Simon and Nate.

"He's mine.. Wow. Now I know how my dad felt whenever he had to tell someone that I'm his kid," Nate said, earning a little snort of laughter from her. Nate found himself smiling in spite of himself.

"Um.. Nate.." Simon mumbled, tugging on his pant leg softly. Nate blinked and looked down at him, kneeling so he was more on eye level.

"What is it?"

"I.. Have to pee." Simon's feet were shuffling back and forth, the shaking a bit worse. Oh. He wasn't scared. He just had to use the bathroom.

"Alright. Be back in a sec, guys." Nate waved and led the blonde into the woods, making sure he was out of sight from the others before turning to him. "Do you want me to keep watch?" Simon nodded and Nate got the message. He turned his back to Simon, looking around the jungle for something to distract him from the peeing child behind him.

He caught the glimpse of something moving between the trees a bit too quickly for him to fully track. He raised an eyebrow at it, a feeling of dread causing him to tense up. He heard something skitter about around him and he tried to follow the noise, turning on the spot to keep up with it, but he had no luck.

"Nate..?" Simon asked, zipping himself up. His tiny voice was worried, very worried. "What is it?"

"I thought I heard something.." Nate mumbled, the noise he had heard a few seconds ago appearing over his head. It was followed by a heavy breathing. He slowly looked up, his eyes snapping open at what he saw.

Above him was a massive spider shaped creature. It had created a web above the two boys so it could attack from above, its mouth split open three different ways. It had a mane of bright orange hair, the majority of its face covered by a spiked helmet with nine eye sockets in it. Nate backed up slightly, the watch on his wrist humming for a moment before a shrill voice erupted from it.

**Dokugumon, a Champion level Insectoid digimon. This massive spider has a series of deadly viruses running through out its body and loves to corner its prey using its Poison Cobweb before finishing them off with its deadly Poison Thread attack.**

"Well, that doesn't sound good.." Nate whispered as Dokugumon's mouth opened up, firing a blast of poisonous thread from the back of its throat. Nate grabbed Simon before diving out of the way, the thread wrapping around the trunk of a close by tree. It melted clean through the wood with a loud hiss, the tree beginning to wobble. There was a loud crunch as the trunk snapped and the tree collapsed to the ground about three feet from the boys.

Dokugumon turned on the web platform it had made for itself before firing another blast of it from her abdomen. Nate had Simon over his shoulder as he ran off, the web splatting across the ground a few inches behind him.

"Problem, problem!" Nate cried as he burst into the clearing, catching everyone's attention. Lapinmon and Kotemon were the first ones over to them, firing off questions.

As if to answer, a single thread shot from the forest and attached to Nate's leg, yanking it out from beneath him. He crashed to the ground and clutched at the grass as he was pulled back towards the bushes.

"**Hothead!**" Kotemon cried out, slicing the thread in half with a flaming sword. Nate let out a sigh of relief as he pulled himself up to his feet, rubbing his ankle.

"Thanks.." Nate whispered, the kendo digimon nodding in response. Lapinmon, Lunamon and Sungazermon ran over to join Kotemon, all of them taking a battle stance. Sabrina helped Nate back up to his feet, patting his front off.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Nate nodded and smiled at her.

It was only a few seconds before Dokugumon sprinted out from the foliage, closing in fast. For whatever reason, the spider digimon was not happy with them.

"**Hop Step!**" Lapinmon shouted and bounded towards Dokugumon, flipping in mid air and smashing a massive foot into the center of its face. He pushed off and followed with another kick to the jaw, flipping in the air as Kotemon lunged forward.

"**Thunder Kote!**" Kotemon placed one foot on the ground and skid to a stop as his free hand suddenly charged up with electricity and it drove it into Dokugumon's face, knocking it over onto its side. Dokugumon flipped over and back onto all its legs, screeching with anger.

"You are in MY JUNGLE!" And it fired another stream of the thread from its mouth, heading straight for Lapinmon.

"**Hot Breath!**" A ball of flame erupted from Sungazermon's mouth, intercepting the thread and coating it in flames. It burned into complete nothingness, earning an enraged shout from Dokugumon. Lunamon stepped forward, the antenna on her forehead began to glow, a shimmering ball of water forming in front of it.

"**Tear Shot!**" She cried and fired the ball of water. Dokugumon side stepped the attack and it shot harmlessly into a nearby tree, leaving a large indent on the trunk. Dokugumon's mouth opened up again, a ball of the poisonous thread already starting to form.

"**BADDA-BOOM!**" The voice came from nowhere, but the effect was clear enough. Dokugumon's back exploded into flames and it screeched, rolling on the ground to try and put them out. A boy with ear length purple hair and golden eyes ran from within the woods, followed by a much younger girl with bright red, frizzy hair and sea-blue eyes. They both wore one of the watches on their wrists, the boy wearing the blue and the girl the purple. Two creatures floated above them, one looking like a mischievous imp with a scarf and gloves on, a happy face imprinted on its stomach. The other was a pure white bird that looked like a much larger version of a dove with a red stripe across its beak, along with four others to match it along its back.

"**Silver Feathers!**" The bird cried out, flapping its wings. A barrage of silver energy shot from its wings, bombarding Dokugumon. The spider digimon cried out in pain, its body fuzzing over for a moment before erupting into a white light. The light faded into a stream of binary code, much like the one Nate had seen on the screen of his DP before it flowed into each of the children's watches.

The kids sat there, awestruck at what the little creatures had just pulled off while they were all too busy celebrating. Even Sungazermon was smiling at his team mates. Lapinmon was jumping up and down, high fiving the imp like creature. The two new kids walked over to them, the boy rubbing his head nervously, while the girl was giggling and laughing at all the little creatures.

"So.. What're your names?" Nate asked the two newcomers, sitting down to try and finally get a rest after everything that had been happening.

"Raven," The boy said, gesturing to himself. He looked to be older than Nate as well, but not by much. He wore a striped dull blue and white shirt, wearing a few bracelets on the hand opposite the one with the blue watch. He was the only one of the kids other than Nate to be wearing a bag, though his was a dark blue messenger bag instead of a backpack like Nate was wearing. His hands were in the pants of his cargo pants, gripping the pockets nervously.

"I'm Karrie. My partner up there is Dovemon. Raven's is Impmon," the little girl next to him said, smiling with her hands folded behind the pink sundress she was wearing. She seemed to be the kind of child that always had a permanent smile on her face. Apart from the sundress she wore a pair of combat boots that seemed much too big for her, possibly taken from an older sibling. She also wore a simple silver chain with a heart on the end of it.

"You guys are all here!" Lapinmon shouted, bouncing around. Dovemon laughed at him and followed him around, circling in the air above him.

"The Digidestined! The Digidestined!" Impmon cheered, floating around the others in the group, playfully tugging on the girls hair. Willow frowned at him and tried to swat the little trickster away, but the other girls didn't seem to mind so much.

The celebrations were ended by a cough that came from Sungazermon. Everyone turned to him, raising their eyebrows. "We need to talk about why you're here. Sit down and listen. There's going to be a lot to take in."

* * *

_A/N: Alright, so that's chapter two! Thank you to The Guardian 1412 and Kitefire for their characters! I got a ton of good ones but those two were the ones I liked the most. I'm still going to be accepting OCs, but for villains instead! I have one so far, so I'm still looking for five more! Remember guys, read and review!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Appearance of Multimon!**

* * *

"So, what exactly is going on?" Nate asked. He was sitting next to Simon with his back against a tree, the much younger boy resting against him very timidly. Lapinmon was next to Sungazermon, who sat in the middle of a circle the kids had made with the rest of the Digimon. Willow and Raven sat together on a nearby log, while Karrie and Sabrina were on the grass.

"To talk about it, we need to discuss things that happened hundreds of years ago in this world. For your world.. it's much less. Maybe three decades. The first generation of Digidestined appeared to save us from the evil Myotismon. After that battle, one of those Digidestined decided that he needed to guarantee the protection of the Digital World." Sungazermon began, doing his best to make his voice sound as intimidating as possible. Willow just rolled her eyes.

"You all play the Digital Pet video game, don't you?" The lizard asked, all of the children nodding their answer.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Simon asked, speaking up in front of the others for the first time since arriving. Raven's eyes opened ever so slightly, while Sabrina clapped her hands together.

"He's so cute!" She squealed happily, her loud voice obviously too much for Simon. He hid behind Nate again, instantly vanishing from view.

"Wimp," Willow snorted, brushing her hair back over one ear. Nate narrowed his eyes at her, making a move towards her.

"Watch it." He glared at the older girl. She just narrowed her brown eyes at him, standing up to her full height. With her high heels, she stood almost half a foot taller than him.

"What's wrong with what I said, shrimp? He's a crybaby. Just look at him. He'll be nothing but dead weight." Truth be told, Willow wasn't wrong. Simon was only eight years old. He wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of what was to come.

"He's a little kid. How about you back off before I make you?" The atmosphere within the group had become much more tense. There were practically sparks flying between the eyes of the two pre-teens. Simon was pressing himself further back against the tree while Raven was pretending to look at something in the trees. Karrie just sat there, watching the two with growing curiosity.

"Okay, guys. Sit down, shut up and listen to the scary talking lizard," Sabrina finally intervened, pushing on both their shoulders. "Opposite sides of the circle, go."

"But she-"

"He's being a br-"

"I said sit down! Sabrina frowned, both of them grumbling like small children as they took their designated places. Sabrina let out a huff, pushed some of her black hair out of the way, and sat back down next to Karrie. "Continue, please."

"Right.. Well, one of those digidestined started his own video game company. He decided to use this company, along with some help from creatures here in the Digital World, to find new Digidestined when the time came for them. To do this, he created the Digital Pet handheld game.

"Well, life here has been pretty stable since then.. Well, stable is a relative term but you get what I mean. There was no real need for the Digital Pet game until recently. One of our most powerful digimon, Apollomon, has been infected by something. Of what, we aren't sure, but what we do know is he's no longer himself. He's become dangerous."

"He sounds dangerous already," Karrie piped up, tearing some grass up from the ground as she spoke. Dovemon smiled at her new partner before flapping her wings, taking her place next to Karrie.

"I like her. She's smart." Dovemon gushed, earning a sheepish smile and a blush from the young girl. Willow just snorted again.

"Apollomon was never a cruel Digimon. He fought only for justice and to keep us safe. Whatever infected him turned him almost demonic. He attacked the other God like digimon, forcing them to revert to their lowest forms.. Digitama."

"What're Digitama?" Nate asked and, as Sungazermon opened his mouth, Impmon stepped in front of him to cut him off.

"Well, buddy, Digitama are our eggs. Digimon revert back to their Digitama form after we sustain too much damage during battle. It's really simple. Thought you would have been able to figure at least that out on your own," He snorted, wagging his finger like he was scolding a bad pet. Nate stuck his tongue out at the tiny devil digimon, a laugh coming from his own Digimon.

"I have a question. What's this thing?" Raven asked, gesturing to the blue watch on his wrist. As Impmon got ready to answer, Kotemon spoke up, earning a glare from him.

"That's called a Digivice. It's only given to those who can become Tamers."

"Tamers?"

"Yeah, that's what we call a Digimon's partner. Like how Impmon is your partner and I'm Simon's. Having a Tamer lets us reach new heights of power that would usually take years to achieve. Without you, Digivolution is a much slower process."

"Okay, slow down. What's Digivolution?" Willow frowned, scratching the top of her head.

"Digivolution is how we age," Sungazermon began, clearing his throat before speaking again. "We age much of the same way you do, though it's in much more significant bursts. Those Digivices speed up the process and allow us to reach our more powerful forms, though its only for a short time."

"You say that when Digimon get really hurt, they turn back into their eggs right?" Karrie asked, her lower lip jutted out in thought. "But.. If that's what happens, then how come that big spider thing turned into a bunch of numbers before flying in our Digivices?"

"Ahh, that's what powers your Digivices. They run on the data of the Digimon that you've defeated. They don't absorb all of it though. They're reformed into Digitama in a different location after the Digivices absorb what they need." Dovemon told her, smiling a bit. She smiled back before reaching over, scratching the back of her neck.

"So why are we here?" Nate asked, trying to coax Simon into speaking with the rest of the group, but it wasn't working.

"You're here to save us! The Digidestined are the only ones who can take on the corrupted Apollomon!" Lapinmon shouted, fist pumping into the air.

"We're here to do what now?" Nate asked, raising an eyebrow.

"To save us! The Digidestined are our heroes!" Lapinmon grinned, absolutely brimming with confidence. "Well, even though we're the ones doing all the fighting.."

"Sounds good to me," Sabrina said, standing up from the ground and dusting off her skirt. All the other kids looked up at her with dubious looks on their faces. "What? If that's what we're here to do then I say we do it. No questions asked."

"I agree with Sabrina!" Karrie grinned, jumping up and attaching herself to Sabrina's hip. Sabrina smiled and placed an affectionate hand on the younger girl's head, screwing up her hair a bit.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt.." Simon spoke up again, making his way over to the two girls. Sabrina welcomed him with open arms, but he didn't return the hug. Instead he put a bit of distance between himself and them before giving Nate a pleading look. "Nate.. You know it's the right thing to do."

"Yeah, I know. I'm coming." Nate stood up and walked over to them, kneeling in front of Simon and placing a hand on his shoulder. He wasn't quite sure where this bond between him and Simon had came from, but he wanted nothing more than to protect this child. "I won't let anyone get hurt."

Raven and Willow were the only ones left. Sungazermon gave Willow a pleading look, but instead she stood up and walked to the edge of the woods. "Sorry. I don't do teams." And she vanished into the darkness. Sungazermon didn't even hesitate. He took off after her, the flames on his back illuminating their silhouettes as they walked off.

"Should have figured as much," Nate frowned before shrugging and turning to Raven. "Well? Are you in?"

Raven sat there for a moment, gauging his options in his head before standing up and nodding. "I'm in." The other kids grinned and Nate stepped forward, holding his hand out to him for him to shake it. An arm wrapped around his neck suddenly, putting him in a sudden head lock.

"Come on, what makes him so special?" Sabrina teased, her cheek pressing right up against Nate's. She dropped down next to him, grinning wide. "Lets do a cheer circle!" The mention of that drained just about all colour from Simon's face. Nate laughed and pulled him into his leg gently.

"Don't worry. It's not as scary as it sounds," Nate told him. Simon just nodded.

Sabrina grinned and placed her hand in the middle of the five of them, gesturing to the others to do the same with her head. They all piled in, including Raven, which was a shock to just about everybody. "Wait.. We gotta come up with a cheer.."

"Why you forgetting about us?" Lapinmon suddenly shouted, jumping onto the back of Nate's head. The others followed similar fashion with Dovemon landing on Karrie's shoulder, Lunaman clambering up so she could hang on to Sabrina's hair. Impmon just sat on the top of Raven's head and Kotemon took Simon's hand with one of its over sized gloves.

"How about just a simple 'Go Team'?" Nate suggested, but Sabrina instantly shot him down.

"I got it! 'Don't mess with the Digidestined!' How does that sound?" Karrie asked, grinning at the kids around her. All the Digimon were nodding like crazy, obviously happy with it.

"So on three?" Nate asked.

"One."

"Two"

"THREE!"

They all threw their hands up into the air simultaneously, earning an excited cheer from their partners as they jumped upwards. "Don't mess with the Digidestined!"

Nate grinned at the group of kids and Digimon around him, the majority of them laughing. Even Raven had cracked a smile. Something about being with these kids felt right. Like they were all.. Family. Sabrina caught the looks he was giving everyone and threw him a smile back, which in turn made him turn his gaze to the ground. Why couldn't he look her in the eyes?

"Aww, how sweet.." A voice emanated from somewhere in the forest, fear washing over them like a wave. A blur shot out of the woods and flipped over and over through the air, slamming down onto the ground a few feet away from the group. He stood up to his full height, almost seven feet tall, two massive metal rods on the back of his black trench coat. Bright red hair was hidden under a top hat of some sorts. His skin was a sickly grey colour and his four eyes were each different colours, blue, red, yellow and green.

"It's Multimon!" Lapinmon shouted and his fellow Digimon instantly sprung into battle mode. Nate's Digivice suddenly began to hum again, the voice from before filling the air again.

**Multimon, an Ultimate Level Virus Digimon. Multimon is said to be able to freely open up doors in space and time before sending his opponents through them. Multimon doesn't fear a challenge however and can decimate opponents with his powerful Dimension Punch.**

"What does that mean? An Ultimate level?" Nate asked as Multimon pulled the two rods out of their holsters, a whirlwind of multi-coloured energy covering them.

"It means he's digivolved to two levels higher than we are! He's way too strong!" Dovemon cried out, flying high up into the air to stay out of Multimon's range.

"Oh come on, he's gonna go down just like Dokugumon! **Badda-Boom!**" Impmon gloated, snapping his fingers quickly. Multimon's face exploded into flames within a few seconds, kicking up a massive cloud of dust. Impmon spun to the others, giving them the peace sign. "And that's how we do it!"

Multimon shot out from the dust at a full on sprint, driving both of his rods into Impmon's back. "**Dimen-splosion.**" The two tornadoes of energy launched Impmon through the air, the tiny imp slamming into the trunk of tree before slumping to the floor.

"Impmon!" Raven cried, sprinting over to his fallen partner. Simon backed up every so slightly before looking at Kotemon with pleading eyes.

"I've got it. **Thunder Kote!**" Kotemon sprinted forward as fast as he could, his free hand lighting up with electricity before driving it into Multimon's chest. The ultimate digimon stared at him for a moment before raising his rods into the air.

"Stupid reptile." They slammed into Kotemon's back at full force, the ground cracking beneath him when he hit. Kotemon cried out in pain, trying to stand back up again. Multimon drew his leg back before punting Kotemon in the jaw, sending him flying into Simon. The two hit the ground in a heap, groaning in pain.

"**Bunny Blitz!**" Lapinmon shot down from the sky above Multimon, slamming both feet into the top of his head. Lapinmon quickly flipped backwards before darting up towards Multimon's head, unleashing a barrage of punches into his face. He finished up with a hard kick to the side of Multimon's face. "Take that!"

"Lapinmon, back off! It's suicide!" Nate shouted, panic rising in his voice. Multimon smirked before grabbing Lapinmon by his throat, holding him high into the air.

"Lord BlackApollomon wants you all destroyed.. But I find you entertaining. With some work, you could be a real challenge.." Multimon's eyes erupted into bright light, the ground around the Digidestined beginning to shake. Tree trunks began to shake before snapping, the trees themselves collapsing.

Three massive chasms opened up in the ground behind pairs of the kids, a gale force wind starting to pull them in. Raven caught Simon's hand as he and Kotemon were flying towards the hole. Raven grabbed the grass to try and hold himself steady but the green blades tore up, sending all four of them into the darkness.

Sabrina reached out and grabbed Karrie's hand, reaching out for Nate afterwards. Nate stretched his arm out, trying to grab a hold of her pale hand. Dovemon and Lunamon were frantically trying to put distance between the chasm and themselves, but with one hard final tug, they fell inside. Sabrina and Karrie were ripped out of Nate's reach, disappearing from view.

"Dammit!" Nate shouted, turning back to face Multimon. The Virus digimon, still holding Lapinmon, gave him a quick smirk. He reared his arm back before throwing Lapinmon straight towards his Tamer. The rabbit hit Nate dead center in the chest and the two bounced backwards. Nate kept a tight hold on Lapinmon as they fell into the chasm.

The last thing Nate saw before the world turned black was Willow diving in the hole after him, screaming his name.

* * *

_A/N: So, how was that for a third chapter? And I know the whole "splitting up the Digidestined into pairs" is a cliche but hey, it works. I'll update as soon as I can!_


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